Annual event is in good 'Tastes'

Thursday

Nov 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Milfordians will have the chance to win dandy items, as well as sample delectable delights from a number of local restaurants and caterers, during the 7th Annual Holiday Auction & Tastes of Milford at the Rookery North on Thursday, Nov. 21.

Andre Lamarandre.lamar@doverpost.com@302DoAndre

Milfordians will have the chance to win dandy items, as well as sample delectable delights from a number of local restaurants and caterers, during the 7th Annual Holiday Auction & Tastes of Milford at the Rookery North on Thursday, Nov. 21.

Tastes of Milford is presented by the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Milford, and the event's co-beneficiary is the Mispillion Art League.

On the auction side, there will be approximately 100 silent and live auction items available for bid, of which several have been donated by local businesses, Chamber members and non-profit organizations. Some popular auction items will include an autographed baseball bat from MLB Hall of Famer Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, and a children's BMW pedal car, provided by i.g. Burton, one of the event's sponsors.

While the rest of the auction items might not be as elaborate as the aforementioned, there's still a number of other nice items for bidders to win including donated artwork from the Mispillion Art League, and gift cards to local businesses such as the Good News Natural Food grocery store and the Shaggy Dog pet groomer.

Milford Art League to benefit

The CCGM cleared more than $6,000 from last year's Tastes of Milford, and the Chamber wants to at least clear that at this year's event, said CCGM Executive Director, Jo Schmeiser.

The CCGM will share nearly half of the proceeds from this year's event with the Mispillion Art League. The Chamber, which will use its proceeds to pay for its general expenses, is proud to have MAL, a non-profit organization, as this year's co-beneficiary because "they need money," Schmeiser said.

"The money coming will support our general budget because we have building improvements we'd like to make," said Judy Struck, president of MAL.

Struck added the building improvements entail installing more lights in MAL's building. In addition, Struck mentioned MAL needs funds because "we hired a part-time person, so that means we have to find the funds to pay that person. We also have to pay our [instructors]." Realistically, Struck doesn't expect the proceeds from the Tastes of Milford to cover all of MAL's expenses, since just having lights installed in their building will cost $7,000. But Struck says MAL will be happy to earn whatever they can from the event.

In addition to raising funds from Tastes of Milford, Struck also sees the event as a networking opportunity to expose more people to MAL.

"People who ─ maybe ─ don't know us," she said, "will get to know who we are."